(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to transfer printing with disperse dyes and, more particularly, to a process for applying images by transfer printing to furniture end pieces, especially end pieces for use in juvenile furniture.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally images are applied to furniture end pieces, for example juvenile furniture including bed head and foot boards, desk and chest tops, and chair seats, by first painting the end piece with a pigmented base coat to obtain a background color. Next the desired image is silk screened over the base coat. However, complex images, such as cartoon characters, require six or more colors. This requires that the board be handled each time a separate color is applied making tight registration difficult. Finally, after all the individual colors have been applied, the board is returned to the paint line to have a clear top coat applied over the image.
Heat transfer printing is a process used for printing fabrics of polyester or other thermoplastic fibers with disperse dyes. The design is transferred from a preprinted paper carrier onto the fabric by contact heat. Having no affinity for paper, the dyes are absorbed by the fabric. The process is capable of producing well-defined, clear prints.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,264, issued to Davis, discloses a method for producing a laminate bearing a permanently visible pattern. The laminate comprises a binder layer containing pigment and a transparent layer, each layer being formed for a synthetic polymer such as polyester. Sublimable dyestuff is heat transferred from an auxiliary web to the transparent layer to submerge the pattern into an external surface of the transparent layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,131, issued to Sideman, discloses a heat transfer print sheet comprising a base sheet, printing on the base sheet, and a coating overlying the printed surface. The printing is capable of transferring through the coating upon application of heat and pressure. In one embodiment (see FIG. 3) the substrate is a hard board and the coating is a polyester film.
German Patent No. DE2642350, issued to Schulzen, discloses a method for printing flat goods and coating with a synthetic by, with the application of heat, providing the flat goods with a surface layer of a thermoplastic synthetic material and printing the surface by the transfer printing method. The flat goods may be wood, chipboard, mineral wool, metal ceramic, glass, natural synthetic, stone, foams, natural or synthetic fabrics. The wooden flat goods may be in the form of furniture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,952, issued to Harris, Jr. et al., discloses a method for computerized transfer printing into a substrate. Various substrates may be employed including paper, wood, plastic, natural cloth, synthetic cloth, carpet material, concrete, glass, metal, such as steel, porcelain and ceramic.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,471 and 4,465,728, issued to Haigh, disclose a method and product produced thereby for dye absorption into the surface of plastics. The process includes placing polyolefin film between a dye transfer paper and a sheet of thermoplastic and applying sufficient heat and pressure thereto.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,613, issued to Purser, discloses a process for heat transfer printing a pattern of disperse dyes onto a non-metallic inorganic surface such as glass or ceramic.
The above processes are generally limited either to multiple coating layers, inorganic substrates or articles which are too small to be useful as furniture components. Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved process for applying images by transfer printing to furniture end pieces, especially end pieces for use in juvenile furniture, which is simple and economical to use while, at the same time, prevents warpage which may occur when wooden substrates are heated during the transfer process.